Friday our two kids and I went out to the
18th Century Market Fair at Fort Frederick, Maryland. If you live within a day's drive and are newly into reenacting or want to have a one-stop place to buy all things 18th century reenacting - this is the event to go to! There were
140 sutlers. Can you believe it? There was a lot to see. Besides the vendors, many reenactors themselves had blankets out of things they were selling.
One camp we stopped at had caught my eye with a sign about a tent for sale for a stinkin' good price. It was a unique, oblong rectangle shape with scraped wood poles, two door openings and even a hole for a camp stove pipe. I called my husband and we decided to get it since we're wanting to get into Rev War reenacting. I am pretty excited! We met the couple halfway yesterday morning to get the tent from them on their way back home. Once we got home, we didn't lose any time setting it up to dry out more since we had rain this weekend. The kids have had a blast playing in it.
At the event, we saw a few interesting things that I never typically saw at least at a Civil War event. A very cool, but surprising thing we saw was a man dressed in period clothing with a real peg leg. It was wood and hand carved and everything. He cut a very striking figure and I totally give him props for going the extra mile with his impression.
Here are a few pictures:
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| My kids in front of a gigantic pile of horns - polished and unpolished. The polished ones were really pretty! |
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My kids at the flagpole inside the fort
It gives a good perspective in how tall the fort walls are.
The fort has been restored. For a long time it was apart of a man's farm. |
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| One of two of the barracks buildings |
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A view from a platform at the top of the fort wall. It was a nice view of the event.
There were a lot of people, but not an overwhelming amount. |
I was pleased to see that one of the barracks had a museum established upstairs. I found this exhibit's techniques interesting and thought I'd share. One thing I liked was how they had basic information in larger text with more details in a smaller font. That was perfect for me as an exhibit skimmer.
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| Using the ledge to display items |
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Multi-layer maps with one printed onto plexi-glass.
It had a really cool effect. I wonder how you get stuff printed onto plexi-glass like that... |
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A side view of the plexi-glass
I'm always interesting in the nitty-gritty - how did they hang that thing? |
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"Tools of an 18th Century Farm"
I thought this one was really cool - a hands-on exhibit case where you could touch and examine the labeled tools.
All the blades were very dull. |
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| My kids investigating an apple peeler |
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Two gentleman talk while my son looks on.
The man on the left gave a presentation about 18th cent. military things in relation to the fort (which we did not attend).
My son loved studying this replica of a 1755 map of the American colonies. |
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| A peek through a hole in an outside corner of the fort. |
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I loved this food vendor!
They had lovely spiced cider and lemonade for sale in green glass bottles with corks. And their food was interesting and appropriate for the times. They really went the extra mile which was appreciated!
They even had a sign posted that verified the rat catcher had visited them and declared them "rat free". Haha!
It's true too, because I saw the rat catcher with a cage, rat, and all. He looked like one of those grisly characters out of a Dickens' novel. |
We'll definitely be going again next year, and hopefully we'll go to camp and dress in 18th century clothing!